Being Human
by SkyGem
Summary: Giannini tampers with the box animals, which leads to them becoming human and being free of their ring forms. Until they find a way to return them to normal, Tsuna and guardians must take care of them, which leads to a whole host of misunderstandings.
1. Prologue

Summary: When Giannini tampers with the box animals without permission, Natsu and the others become human and are free of their ring forms. Now, until Giannini is able to solve the problem, Tsuna and the others must take care of the box-animals-turned-human, which leads to a bunch of misunderstandings.

SkyGem: I know I shouldn't start a new story, since I have so many going on, but don't worry! This is going to be a relatively short fic, with only eight chapters; a prologue, and a chapter each for the guardians. So sit back, and enjoy the show, ne?

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

"Lambo-sama wants seconds!" shouted the young lightning guardian from the unusually crowded kitchen of the Sawada residence.

"Coming right up!" said Nana in a singsong voice as she picked up the cow child's plate and went to refill it.

"The food tastes delicious, Sawada-sama!" said a certain Gokudera Hayato enthusiastically to Nana when she came back to the table.

"Thank you so much, Gokudera-kun," said the brunette woman with a smile. Then, noticing a grain of rice stuck onto the young bomber's face, she smiled softly and plucked it off, saying, "I'm glad you enjoy the food."

Gokudera brought his hand up to his cheek, dumbfounded at the motherly gesture; he'd never really had a mother, so he wasn't sure how to react.

Before long, though, the silverette was brought out of his thoughts when a certain rain guardian asked enthusiastically, "You're an awesome cook, Nana-san! Can we come over again sometime?"

A vein appearing in his forehead, the ever loyal storm guardian shouted, "Oi! Baseball freak! Don't be so inconsiderate! I'm sure Sawada-sama has more important things to do than prepare your meals for you!"

Before Yamamoto could reply, a certain skylark spoke up in an icy voice, "Be quiet before I bite you all to death."

Now, you're all probably wondering why everyone was currently at Tsuna's house. Well, the reason for that was that Reborn had invited them all over for an important meeting. What that meeting was about, nobody knew.

The moment they all arrived, Nana had invited them to have dinner, and nobody had been able to refuse. When she saw the rings they were all sporting on their fingers, the woman had immediately requested for them to take them all off, insisting that it would be bad manners to wear them while eating dinner.

Before long, everyone had taken their rings off – whether it be voluntarily, by blackmail, or even at gunpoint (Leonpoint?)- and put them up in Tsuna's room, where they would be safe.

What everyone (even Reborn) failed to remember, though, was that earlier that day, Giannini had locked himself up in one of the upstairs rooms and was currently fiddling away with an invention.

When he heard the commotion of all the guardians putting their rings away, his interest was piqued. When the inventor realized that they had left all the ring animals inside Tsuna's room, he almost had a heart attack at the rare chance he had been given.

After all the guardians had returned downstairs, he sneaked into the future Decimo's room and gathered all the rings into his hand. Afterwards, he sneaked back into the room he had previously occupied and got to work on his new project.

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><p>Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, the situation had started to deteriorate.<p>

Hibari had gotten into a quarrel with Mukuro while Chrome sat quietly in her seat, Ryohei was going on about how EXTREME everything was and Gokudera was yelling at him, Yamamoto was laughing for no apparent reason, Tsuna was freaking out, Lambo was being annoying, I-pin was trying to get him to calm down, Fuuta was watching what was going on with interest, and Bianchi (who was wearing ski goggles) was trying to feed people her poison cooking. Meanwhile, Nana was just watching what was going on with a smile on her face, happy at how lively the house was tonight.

Suddenly, though, a huge explosion was heard upstairs, and the kitchen was engulfed in silence.

Reborn, who was the first to realize what must have happened, ran towards the kitchen doorway. "Giannini…" he growled threateningly under his breath.

When Tsuna and the others heard the technician's name, they all ran after the infant-hitman-turned-adult with expressions varying from annoyed to panicky to curious.

Upon arriving at the guest room, though, all had on expressions of pure disbelief.

Why?

Because there sat Giannini in the middle of the room, surrounded by eight young, clueless-looking children.

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><p>SkyGem: *sticks tongue out* That's all you guys get for now XD. Sorry. Anyways, I hope you all like the idea for this fic; please leave a review and tell me what you thought, ne?<p>

Chapter 1: Mukurou


	2. Mukurou

SkyGem: Haha, and here I thought the first chapter wouldn't get any reviews. XD To everyone that reviewed on the first chapter, I hope I don't disappoint you with this fic. I'll be warning you, though, this fic will be mostly just fluff and a bit of humour. That means no real plot, and no pairings. Get it? Got it? good. Oh, and just in case you guys don't know, Mukurou is the box animal. Mukuro is the pineapple head.

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><p>Mukurou had no idea what was going on.<p>

One moment, he was sleeping in his ring form, as usual, and the next, he was sitting in the middle of an unknown room.

Suddenly, his brows furrowed as he realized that something was definitely wrong.

Who were these human kids whom he'd never seen before? And why were they all naked? And where the hell were Chrome and the other pineapple head, whom he'd been named after?

Before he speculate more on these unusual circumstances, the mist attribute weapon was snapped out of his thoughts when he realized how cold he was.

Shivering, he brought his arms up to…wait…**ARMS?**

Looking down at himself, Mukurou was horrified when he saw that his feathers were gone, and in their place was the soft, pink flesh of a human being.

Studying the fingers on his hands, he flexed them, marveling at how strange it felt to have these extra appendages. Bringing his hand up to his face, the boy felt his cheeks, his nose, and the soft, spongy lips which had replaced his beak. Then, he reached higher and took hold of one of the silky white locks of hair that had replaced his head feathers.

By now, the other kids in the room were reacting in ways similar to him, and Mukurou realized who they must be.

That boy over there with the orange eyes and the messy orange mane of hair must be Natsu. The one sitting beside him, with long, silvery hair and purplish eyes was Roll. Next was Kangaryuu, who was the second tallest of them all, even sitting down. She had scruffy light brown hair that reached her waist, and pretty amber eyes. There were bandages around her forearms, her ankle, and her foot, and there were two scars on her face; one cross-shaped one above her right brow, and one running straight from above her left eye, all the way down her cheek. Beside her was a boy with white hair that had streaks of red, blond, and brown in it. His eyes were wine red; he was definitely Uri. Behind Uri was a boy who was taller than everyone else. He had tanned skin, messy, jet black hair, and sparkling emerald eyes; his name was Gyuudon. And last but not least were two boys sitting close together and holding hands. The taller one, who had hair the colour of Kangaryuu's, except with two streaks of blue framing his face and whom Mukuro assumed to be Jirou, seemed to be comforting the shorter one, who had deep blue hair and eyes, and who was definitely Kojiro.

Everyone seemed worried, and scared of their altered states.

Just as Mukurou was sure that all hell would break loose (meaning some of the more timid ones were about to start crying), though, the door burst open, and there stood Reborn, and behind him was their masters.

The hitman looked beyond shocked for a moment, but he soon got over it and turned to Mukurou's namesake.

"Mukuro, Chrome! Clothes! Now!" he barked out.

Both mist guardians obeyed wordlessly. They raised their tridents and before long, all the kids had plain white t-shirts and shorts on.

After that matter was taken care of, Reborn issued the eight guardians inside, then locked the door, but not before issuing an excuse to Nana.

After the door was closed, the two sides stared at each other for a long time before Natsu broke the stalemate.

Standing up on shaky legs, the young boy (who looked maybe four years old) tried to walk up to Tsuna, but stumbled and almost fell halfway there.

The brunette rushed up to his box weapon, catching him just before he tumbled to the floor.

This seemed to be a kind of icebreaker as all the guardians rushed up to their box animals.

Mukurou just stayed sitting right where he was as he watched Chrome rush up to him with Mukuro trailing slowly behind.

Dropping to her knees, Chrome looked into the boy's deep blue eyes and smiled sweetly. "Are you okay, Mukurou-kun? Did you get hurt?"

The boy shook his head wordlessly. Then, without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her, sniffling quietly.

Chrome didn't seem surprised by his actions, merely returning the hug and placing a gentle kiss on his temple. "You must have been scared when you found out what happened to you. Don't worry, Mukurou-kun, you'll be alright."

At that moment, Reborn claimed everyone's attention by clearing his throat once.

When everyone in the room turned to look at him, they saw a badly beaten up Giannini cowering on the floor behind him, and their eyes bulged.

Ignoring the carnage behind him, Reborn started explaining, "I'm sure you've all probably realized this by now, but your box weapons have all gained humanoid forms. So, until the Vongola technicians can find a way to fix them, they'll be living with you all."

Surprisingly enough, no one really protested, and even Tsuna nodded calmly and accepted his newest responsibility without any whining.

"But what am I supposed to tell mom?" asked the brunette.

"Make something up," growled Reborn threateningly before turning to leave. "The meeting will be postponed for now. This is much more important. Everyone, go home."

"Hai!" the guardians chorused.

Turning back to Mukurou, Chrome smiled shyly at him and held out her hand. "Can you walk, Mukurou-kun?"

Before Mukurou could reply, though, the mist guardian spoke up. "Kufufu, I would appreciate it, my dear Chrome, if you didn't call him that."

Turning to him, Chrome looked at him in confusion. "But why shouldn't I, Mukuro-sama?"

"Because we have the same name, and it's so very confusing," replied the illusionist with a gentlemanly smile; if it had been anyone other than Chrome, he probably would have ripped their head off by now.

Chrome nodded slowly, thinking it over. "Then…how about Kurou-kun?"

'Kuro' smiled widely at this. Tugging on her sleeve to get her attention, he said quietly, "I…I want to be called Kuro…"

Chrome was surprised for a second, then smiled widely.

"Then, Kuro-chan, let's go home, ne?"

"Hai!" he replied cutely, nodding enthusiastically.

After excusing themselves, the two mist illusionists and their new charge made their way back home; slowly at first as Kuro got used to walking instead of flying.

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><p>By the time Chrome and Mukuro(x2) got back to Kokuyo land, Ken and Chikusa were already asleep, so the introductions would have to be postponed until the day after.<p>

"Well, Chrome my dear, it is time for us to bid farewell for the night," said Mukuro not soon after they had arrived back home. "Come along, Kuro-kun. I shall show you to our room."

When Kuro only clutched tighter to Chrome's skirt, Mukuro felt a vein pop.

"Kuro-kun?" he asked in a strained voice.

"I want to sleep with Chrome-nee," said the boy. "You're creepy."

Mukuro's eyes widened at this, and Chrome couldn't help but giggle at this. Kuro's personality really was just like Mukuro-sama's, which wasn't really a surprise, since box animals were supposed to be like their masters.

After just barely managing to escape from Mukuro in one piece, Kuro followed Chrome back to her room.

The boy was so tired that when he crawled into the bed, he was out like a light within moments, curled up into a tight little ball beside Chrome.

"Good night, Kuro-kun," was the last thing he heard before drifting off into dreamland.

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><p>The next morning, Kuro was awoken by an annoyingly loud voice saying, "What have you brought to our home this time, ugly girl –byon?"<p>

Rubbing his eyes sleepily, Kuro sat up to see Chrome talking to a tall boy with unruly blond hair and a scar running across his cheeks whom Kuro immediately recognised as Joshima Ken.

As Kuro walked up to them, Ken suddenly looked over at him with a surprised expression, as if he didn't quite believe what Chrome had told him.

"You mean to tell me that this weak looking boy is supposed to be the boss's box weapon?" he asked in a mocking tone.

"You mean to tell me that this stupid looking blond is supposed to be the boss' subordinate?" countered Kuro.

In response to this, Ken seemed speechless. After a moment, though, he burst out laughing, declaring that Kuro really was just like the boss.

After a relatively quiet breakfast with Mukuro and some of the other members of the Kokuyo gang, Chrome announced that she would be taking Kuro to town to by him some clothes.

Mukuro, who was by now sick and tired of this new, rebellious version of his box weapon, happily saw them off.

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><p>"Why are we buying clothes, anyways?" asked Kuro later, as the two of them were on their way to a clothes shop. "Can't Chrome-nee keep using her illusions?"<p>

The illusionist merely shook her head in response. "I'm sorry, Kuro-kun, but it's much too tiring. Anyways, I am sure you will enjoy having your own set of clothes."

Kuro thought about it for a second, finding the idea more and more appealing.

"Okay then!" he said enthusiastically, running ahead.

Chrome just giggled at his antics; he was just so cute!

Just then, though, she saw that the boy was about to bump into someone else. "Kuro-kun!" she exclaimed. "Watch out!"

"Eh?" asked the boy, looking back but not stopping in his advance.

At that moment, he crashed headlong into a girl and fell to the ground with a muted thud.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" asked the girl he had bumped into, looking worried.

Running up to him Chrome quickly dusted his clothes off and made sure he was okay, then turned to the person he'd bumped into.

Without taking a good look at her, Chrome quickly bowed, saying, "We should be the ones apologizing! I'm so sorry that Kuro-kun bumped into you!"

There was silence from the other girl for a second, and just as Chrome was beginning to think that maybe she was really mad, a familiar voice said in surprise, "Chrome-chan!"

Looking up, Chrome was surprised to see a certain Sasagawa Kyoko smiling at her.

"S-Sasagawa-san!" she said in surprise.

Giggling, the other girl just waved her hand dismissively, saying, "Oh, please, just call me Kyoko! There's no need to be so formal, Chrome-chan."

"Ah, h-hai," replied the girl with a blush.

"Anyways, it's quite rare to see you in town, Chrome-chan. You should come over more often!"

"Ah, I would, b-but I'm too busy. I'm only here to buy some clothes for Kuro-chan."

"Kuro-chan?" asked Kyoko, looking down at the boy.

Suddenly, she seemed to remember something, and her expression became a little stiff.

"Is he also from the Vongola?" asked Kyoko.

Chrome tilted her head to the side. "Vongola?" she asked. She had almost forgotten that Kyoko already knew about the mafia.

Kyoko showed a strained smile. "Last night, onii-chan brought home a little girl named Ryuu-chan. He said that she was from the Vongola, but he wouldn't tell me anything else. Ever since they got home, though, she's been sticking to him like glue."

"Well–" began Chrome, but at that moment, she was interrupted by Kuro tugging on her skirt.

"Ne, Chrome-nee, can I have some ice cream?"

Smiling indulgently, the mist guardian bent down and pulled out some money. Giving it to the boy, she said, "Here. Just give this to the nice man over there and tell him what flavour you want, okay?"

Kyoko watched this scene quietly, and when Chrome looked back at her, she thought she caught a flicker of jealousy cross her face. The next second, though, it was gone, so she thought that she had probably just imagined it.

"Anyways," said Chrome, continuing what she had said earlier. "Last night, when we went to bossu's house, something unexpected happened, and now we have to take care of the kids for an undetermined amount of time."

Kyoko's eyes widened a little when she heard this. "You mean…Tsuna-kun and the others are also taking care of kids?"

Chrome nodded. "Although…in Lambo-kun's case, it's more like Gyuu-kun is taking care of him," she said with a sweatdrop forming on her forehead.

"I see…" said Kyoko quietly, her expression a little absent.

"Kyoko-chan…" started Chrome. "You wouldn't happen to be jealous…would you?"

"Eh?" asked the brunette girl. "Of course not! Anyways, I'm sorry, Chrome-chan, but I really should get going now."

"Ah, hai!" said Chrome, almost stumbling over the words. "Bye, Kyoko-chan!" said the girl, then turned and headed back to Kuro.

Kyoko watched for a second as the eye-patch girl wiped a bit of ice cream off the younger boy's face, giggling.

Sighing, Kyoko turned and headed home, trying to convince herself that there was nothing to be jealous **of**.

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><p>SkyGem: Voila! How did you like this chapter? Good? Please do leave a review and tell me what you thought, ne? Haha, but you know, I was surprised when I found Kangaryuu was a female! I always thought she was male XD Gomen, ne, Ryuu-chan! Haha, anyways, I'll be updating the next chapter of this and RaF tomorrow, so look forward to it, ne? Oh, and just a heads up, there might possibly be a bit of Kyoko-bashing in future chapters (just a bit).<p>

Chapter 2: Kangaryuu


	3. Kangaryuu

SkyGem: Well, first, thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! You guys are all so kind~ And second, well, there's been a bit of controversy on whether Uri is female, so this is what I'll do; unless anyone can get me some real proof from the **manga** (I don't watch the anime) that Uri is female, then Uri will remain as a guy in this fic. Okay? Okay. Let's get on with the story now.

P.S. Some people are wondering how old the box weapons are. In this fic, they're all between four to nine-years-old, 'kay?

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><p>Kangaryuu looked down at her hands, then around at all the kids who were in the room with her.<p>

She was a little anxious, being in a situation she was not familiar with, but she kept her face calm. She knew that some of the others (Natsu in particular) were really scared, and it was her job to keep them calm, because she was the nurse, and also because she was the oldest out of all of them.

Just as the girl was about to reassure everyone else that everything was okay, the door to the room burst open and in came Reborn and everyone's masters. Kangaryuu almost fainted with relief, because no matter how mature she was, she was still only a kid.

Before she knew what was happening, Ryohei had come to sit on the ground in front of her. "Are you okay, Kangaryuu?" he asked in a surprisingly normal voice.

The girl nodded, and he smiled, reaching out to pet her on the head. "That's good," he said, still in that soft voice.

At that moment, they were interrupted by Reborn, as he explained the situation to them, and when the hitman finished talking, Ryohei turned back to her.

"I guess it's EXTREMELY time to go home, now!"

Kangaryuu let out a giggle and took the hand he offered her.

Standing up on shaky legs, she tried to take a step forward, but almost tripped.

"Be careful!" exclaimed Ryohei, going into older brother mode again. "Take your time. You don't need to rush!"

"H-hai," she said quietly, and together, the two of them steadily made their way to Ryohei's house.

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><p>Kyoko was just about to take a bath when the doorbell rang and she went to answer it with a huge smile on her face.<p>

"Onii-san! Did you have fun at…" the teen trailed off when she saw the little girl that was clinging to her brother's arm. "…onii-san?"

Smiling goofily, Ryohei helped the girl step in and take her shoes off, then turned to his younger sister.

"Kyoko! This is Ryuu-chan, and she'll be staying with us for a little while."

Despite being confused, Kyoko smiled at the girl named Ryuu. "Nice to meet you," she said, holding out her hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Kyoko-nee-san," said the girl, flashing a dimpled smile, and Kyoko couldn't help but squeal at the cuteness.

Turning to her older brother, she asked, "But where are her parents? Wouldn't they be worried?"

Ryohei looked as if he were going to reply, but Ryuu beat him to the punch.

"Ryohei is my parent!" she said, clinging tightly to his arm.

"…"

"…"

"Onii-san…what does she mean by **parent**?"

Ryohei just scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly. "She EXTREMELY doesn't have any parents, and I've been taking care of her for a while now. So, I'm EXTREMELY like her parent is what she meant to say!"

Kyoko blinked when she heard this. "Taking care of her…for a while now?" she questioned. "Why haven't I met her before, though?"

Ryohei looked confused on how to answer that question for a second, but then settled on, "Because she's EXTREMELY from the Vongola!" he answered.

And with that, the subject was put aside, because Kyoko knew that when it came to the mafia, she had no business poking her nose in.

At that moment, Ryohei seemed to notice the towel that she was holding and his eyes widened.

"Are you EXTREMELY going to take a bath now, Kyoko?"

Kyoko nodded.

"Then can you let Ryuu join you to the EXTREME?"

"…Eh?" asked the girl, not entirely sure if she'd heard her brother properly.

Ryohei smiled sheepishly, and suddenly went into doting older brother mode. "She's been through a lot today, and I thought a bath could help her relax a little."

"Eh?" asked Ryuu suddenly. "Why can't I take a bath with you?"

Kyoko's eyes widened when she heard those words come out of the younger female's mouth, and Ryohei chuckled.

"Because, Ryuu, that would be indecent! You're a young lady now, which means things are different from when you were in your animal form!"

"Animal…form?" Kyoko confusedly, not at all understanding what exactly was going on.

"It's nothing! Nothing!" said Ryohei quickly in response. Then, turning back to Ryuu, he said to her, "Make sure you clean yourself properly, ne? And take off your bandages before going in. I'll put new ones on when you're done."

"Hai!" replied the girl, performing a mock salute.

For once, Ryohei just chuckled quietly instead of laughing loudly.

Pushing Ryuu's bangs back, he placed a kiss each on her scars. "Be careful, okay? I don't want to see you with yet another injury."

"Hai!" replied the girl again before turning back to Kyoko and dragging her off by her hand.

Kyoko was so surprised, that before she even had time to react, they were already at the bathroom.

As the two girls proceeded to undress and Ryuu unwound the bandages from around her forearms, ankle, and foot, Kyoko saw that she sported yet more scars where the white cloth had once covered her skin.

As if sensing her stare, Ryuu turned to look at her with a small smile.

"Is there something wrong, Kyoko-nee-san?"

"E-eh?" asked Kyoko, snapping out of her reverie. "I-it's nothing….just…where did you get those scars?"

Upon hearing her question, Ryuu looked down with furrowed brows, as if only just noticing the scars which were marring her otherwise flawless skin.

"I've had them for quite a while now…" she said quietly, then smiled reassuringly, "but they stopped hurting a long time ago, so don't worry!"

Now it was Kyoko's turn to furrow her brows. "If they stopped hurting, then why do you wear bandages?" she asked in confusion.

"Because it hurts Ryohei to see them…" replied Ryuu quietly.

"…Nani?" asked the older female in a shocked voice.

The younger brunette smiled painfully, saying, "Ryohei seems to blame himself for me getting these scars, no matter how many times I tell him it wasn't his fault. So, I thought that if I covered them with bandages, maybe he'd stop making that hurt look every time he sees them."

Upon hearing this, Kyoko couldn't help but resent the girl a little. Ever since she had been young, her older brother had protected her; he had been like a substitute for the parents that were never there. The way this girl talked about him though…

"You two seem really close," commented Kyoko as she rubbed shampoo into the sun attribute's hair.

"Of course we are!" said Ryuu immediately. "He's my master, of course! It wouldn't make sense for us not to be close!"

Kyoko had to hold back a grimace. Despite her being so nice, she couldn't help but dislike the girl who seemed to be taking her older brother away from her. Normally when Ryohei came home, he would ask her about her day and make sure nothing had happened to her, but today, everything had been about Ryuu. For the first time, Kyoko actually felt jealous of someone, and she didn't quite know how to react to it.

"Close your eyes now," she said quietly to the girl before pouring water over her to rinse the suds out of the girl's hair.

After that, there was only silence for the next five or so minutes until they got out, wrapping towels around themselves.

The moment they were out of the bathroom, Ryohei poked his head out of his room and smiled broadly.

"Kyoko!" he called, claiming her attention. "Ryuu EXTREMELY doesn't have any other clothes, so can you lend her some of yours?"

"But mine are too big for her," said Kyoko in confusion.

"I EXTREMELY kept some of them from when you were younger! Give those to her to the EXTREME!"

"H-hai…" she said quietly, leading Ryuu to the other room.

Wordlessly, she threw on a pair of pyjamas while Ryuu just stood shivering in her room. Then, when she was done, Kyoko rifled quickly through her closet, looking for something that would fit the younger girl.

In the end, the only thing she could find was a pair of shorts, and a baggy t-shirt that was a few sizes too big for Ryuu.

Ryuu squealed in delight when she saw the clothes; apparently, she loved them.

Quickly throwing them on, the eight-year-old ran to Ryohei's room to show them off.

Kyoko slowly followed behind her and when she arrived at her older brother's room, she Ryuu spinning around in front of Ryohei, showing off her new clothes.

The boxer smiled broadly, then beckoned for her to sit down.

When she obeyed, he took a hairbrush out of the drawer of his bedside table and began gently teasing the knots out of her hair, talking to her quietly about something.

Kyoko stood at the door, looking at them with envy written clearly in her eyes.

When Ryohei finally noticed her, he looked confused. "Why are you EXTREMELY standing there Kyoko? Come inside!"

The fifteen-year-old merely shook her head and forced a smile onto her face, saying, "I'm sorry, onii-san, but I'm not feeling so good, so I just came to tell you that I'll be going to sleep early.

Kyoko thought she saw a flicker of worry cross her brother's face, but the next second, it was gone. "Have an EXTREMELY good night, then!" he said cheerfully, not noticing the emotions that were hidden underneath his younger sister's smile.

And with that, the sun guardian turned back to brushing the younger girl's hair.

As Kyoko turned to go, she heard something that almost made her freeze in her spot.

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight, Ryohei?" asked Ryuu with that innocent voice of hers.

Kyoko silently willed her brother to say no, but it didn't work and instead, the boy said, "Of course!"

A downcast expression on her face, Kyoko turned and walked back to her room.

She had never before felt so left out, and the next day, when she met Chrome in town, it was the same. The purple-haired girl seemed only to be thinking of the boy with her, Kuro-kun, and Kyoko couldn't help but dislike him too, because he'd taken away one of her friends. And when she found out that Tsuna and the others were also taking care of kids, she instinctively knew that they would be the same as her older brother and Chrome. Kyoko silently wished that the kids would leave soon so that she could have her brother and friends back.

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><p>SkyGem: Haha, sorry this chapter was so late! Anyways, what did you think? I know that Kyoko's a bit OOC, and sorry for that. I haven't really written her before for more than a few sentences, so I'm not too good at it. Add to that the fact that I really dislike her, well, you get the point XD. Anyways, please do leave a review and tell me what you thought, ne?<p>

Chapter 4: Roll


	4. Roll

Roll looked timidly around, showing a personality trait no one would ever expect to be dwelling inside the bloodthirsty skylark known as Hibari Kyoya. He was scared, but tried his best to hide it; Hibari would be disappointed in him if he showed his weakness to the herbivores, and he didn't want to disappoint Hibari.

Despite the silverette's intentions, though, by the time Reborn burst into the room, he was just on the verge of letting a few tears slip onto his face.

He couldn't help but let out a squeak when a pair of shorts and a plain white t-shirt appeared on his body, but relaxed when he realized it was just the pineapple heads' illusions.

By now, Hibari was towering over him wordlessly, staring at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes, and Roll hung his head, thinking that the prefect would scold him.

Imagine his surprise, though, when the teenager merely bent to gather him into his arms.

The former hedgehog squeaked when he saw the ground moving away from him and clung tightly to his master's neck.

When he realized what he was doing, he quickly looked up at the prefect through his eyelashes, and was surprised to see the older male **smiling **(just a little, though).

After Reborn had explained everything to them, Hibari grunted and turned towards the door, still carrying Roll.

As he walked downstairs, Roll tugged lightly on the prefect's sleeve to get his attention.

When steel grey eyes turned on him, he said, "I-I can walk by myself."

Hibari seemed to think about it for a moment, then said, "You are a small animal, and not yet used to your new form. You can practise walking when we get home. Until then, I shall carry you."

The young kid felt a fuzzy feeling in his stomach when he heard his master say those words. Realizing that Hibari would never hurt him, he nuzzled his cheek against the man's neck, getting comfortable.

Roll couldn't see the teen's face, but he was pretty sure the skylark was smiling right about now.

Feeling safe, the young boy closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

><p>The next time he opened his eyes, it was already morning, and the once-hedgehog found himself lying in his master's bed, who was nowhere to be seen.<p>

Curious, he slowly climbed out of the bed, and found himself wearing a pair of sweats and a t-shirt with a picture of a cute teddy-bear on it.

He squealed happily when he saw what he was wearing, but…why did Hibari have it?

Thinking to ask him about it later, the boy left the room to look for his absent master.

Walking out of the room, he skipped down the stairs to the living room, thinking that maybe Hibari had gotten up early or something.

When he got to the living room, though, he saw the skylark fast asleep on the couch, his face more peaceful than it ever was when he was awake.

When he saw that his master was asleep, Roll slowly starting backing quietly away, trying not to wake up the sleeping skylark.

"It's bad manners not to greet you elders when you see them," said a matter-of-fact voice, and Roll froze in his spot.

Turning slowly around, he saw Hibari sitting up, the peaceful expression replaced by the one he usually wore.

"Gomenasai, Hibari-san!" Roll immediately replied. "I didn't realize you were awake!"

"I was awake the moment you left the bedroom," he said with a stern expression. After a second, his face softened just a touch and he said, "And don't call me by my surname. You are a part of me, herbivore, and I forbid you to be so formal."

Roll giggled at this; it was odd to see him being so formal. "Hai, Kyo-nii!" he said, performing a mock salute.

For a second, he thought he would be in trouble, as Hibari's eyebrows furrowed a little, but then the skylark stood and ruffled his hair before walking past him. "Let's go get some breakfast, herbivore. Then we will go patrol Namimori."

Deciding not to comment on the blush he thought he saw on the older male's cheeks, Roll followed after him, instead saying, "By the way, Kyo-nii, why do you have this shirt? Is it yours from when you were younger?"

"Iie," the prefect immediately replied. Then, after a moment's hesitation, "My parents bought them for me when I was younger, but I never wore them. They're too weak and pathetic-looking."

"Aah…" said Roll, not really knowing how to reply.

Hibari, misinterpreting this, said with a small degree of apology, "They fit you well, though."

Roll smiled brightly at this, hugging his arm tightly. "Arigatou, Kyo-nii!"

* * *

><p>Breakfast was a relatively quiet affair with Roll asking questions every now and then.<p>

After they had finished eating, though, just as they were about to leave, Hibari took a bottle of something out and squeezed some white cream onto his hand.

"What's that for, Kyo-nii?" asked Roll curiously, not able to read the words on the bottle.

"Sunscreen," said the prefect without pause, bending down to gently rub some of the lotion all over the young boys arms and his face. "You're overly pale skin makes you susceptible to sunburns, and we must do our best to prevent that."

"A-ah," said Roll. He didn't know what the word susceptible meant, and he didn't know what a sunburn was, but he did understand that Kyo-nii was doing this to help him, so he happily obliged, holding out his arms to make the older male's job easier.

Before long, they were done and had begun patrolling the city.

* * *

><p>That day was pretty uneventful and even though all they really did was walk around town and his Kyo-nii beat up some bad guys, Roll actually found himself having fun.<p>

The day after that, though, was even better.

It was a Monday, which meant that Kyo-nii had school, which also meant that Roll would be going with him, which was making him excited. He'd been there many times before in his ring form, but he had never gotten to explore and was really looking forward to it.

When they arrived, Kyo-nii had to go to his office and work. Surprisingly enough, he actually let Roll explore the school on his own but on one condition.

The boy had to wear a red armband on his sleeve which made people avoid him a lot when they saw it; some people even ran away screaming.

What was all that about?

Kusakabe, who ran into the boy once, raised an eyebrow at the armband, but didn't challenge the boy, merely smiling and giving him a lollipop he had dug out of his pocket (probably confiscated from one of the students) then went on his way.

Normally, Kyo-san wouldn't like him giving away "evidence", but if it was to that little boy, he doubted Kyo-san would mind.

Why else would he have given the boy that special armband?

That special armband with the words "Guest of the Disciplinary committee" written on it, words which, in this school, were synonomous with "Touch, and you'll be bitten to death."

* * *

><p>SkyGem: Haha, so, what did you think? Sorry, it's kinda shorter than the others, but I hope it's cute enough, ne? Please do leave a review and tell me what you thought, ne?<p>

Chapter 5: Gyuudon


	5. Gyuudon

Gyuudon stared down at the cow child standing in front of him and picking his nose.

"You look smaller," said the young lightning guardian matter-of-factly.

Gyuudon blinked once, then smiled lopsidedly. "That's because I'm human now."

Lambo just stared at him stupidly for a moment, then seemed to put two and two together. "Then you can play with Lambo-sama while Dame-Tsuna is at school!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

The former lightning bull just laughed. "Of course," he replied.

Latching onto his leg, Lambo ordered, "Then take Lambo-sama downstairs right now to eat maman's food!"

Noticing that everyone else was also leaving, Gyuudon picked his master up and headed to the door with Tsuna and Natsu following close behind.

"Oh, my, where is everyone going?" asked Nana's concerned voice from the bottom of the stairs as she saw all of her son's friends heading towards the door. She didn't even bat an eyelash at all the children who had seemingly appeared from nowhere.

"Sorry, mom, something came up," said Tsuna in answer to his mother's question. "Anyways, would you mind if Gyuudon and Natsu stay with us for a while? They're Lambo's friends."

"Eh? Gyuudon and Natsu?" said a surprised voice which Gyuudon knew belonged to Fuuta.

Looking over at the boy, Gyuudon smiled and gave a little wave with his free hand.

"Oh? New guests? That's wonderful! Are you two boys hungry?" asked Nana, smiling happily.

As if on cue, both Natsu's and Gyuudon's bellies rumbled, and the two children went red.

Giggling, Nana led them to the kitchen, with Natsu still clinging tightly to Tsuna's hand and Lambo still sitting in Gyuudon's arms.

Walking to the dinner table, Gyuudon set Lambo on a chair, and sat down beside him, with Natsu on his other side.

Before long, Nana set a plate of food in front of the three kids while Tsuna just sat quietly watching them.

Gyuudon, who had never had human food before, cautiously tasted a spoonful of rice, and was surprsised at how good it tasted. When he started shovelling the food in his mouth, Nana giggled, saying in a light voice, "I'm happy you like my food so much, Gyuudon-kun, but you should really slow down. You don't want to choke, do you?"

Taking her words to heart, the tall boy shook immediately slowed down, making to chew every mouthful thoroughly.

Ruffling his hair, Nana smiled, then walked out of the kitchen, probably to resume doing her housework.

The moment she was gone, Fuuta, who had been watching them the whole time, finally spoke up. "Tsuna-nii, are they really Gyuudon and Natsu?"

Tsuna nodded, and as he explained what had happened, Gyuudon watched him from the corner of his eye. The brunette looked different, now that he was seeing him from a human's perspective.

Noticing that he was being scrutinized, the young Decimo turned to look straight at Gyuudon, and the child felt himself slowly go red.

Smiling in an almost brotherly way, Tsuna reached out, and wiped a drop of curry off Gyuudon's face. "Despite how mature you seem, Gyuudon-kun, you really are just a child..."

At that moment, Lambo interrupted them by jumping on the table and shouting, "Dame-Tsuna! Wipe Lambo-sama's face too!"

Tsuna took one look at the cow child's messy face, and groaned. Grabbing a square of paper towel, the brunette began the nearly impossible task of cleaning his lightning guardian's face. "Lambo, how did you get food on your forehead?" he asked, clearly puzzled.

Gyuudon smiled at the scene, finally realizing why his master seemed to respect Tsuna so much, even though he didn't show it.

After they were all done having dinner, Tsuna led them all to his bedroom, and laid out a futon for Gyuudon to sleep in; Natsu would be sleeping with him in his bed.

* * *

><p>When he woke up the next morning, Gyuudon was first confused as to why he wasn't in his ring form, but as the memories of the previous day came rushing back to him, he jerked upright, looking around the room for his master and Tsuna.<p>

When neither of them were anywhere to be seen, the child got up, neatly folded his futon, then turned to leave the room in search of the two guardians.

Walking into the kitchen, Gyuudon saw that it was empty, except for Nana, who was cooking.

Upon hearing his footsteps, the brunette woman turned to smile happily at him. "Gyuudon-kun! you're up!" she said happily. "Did you have a good sleep?"

Nodding politely, Gyuudon said, "Yes. Thank you for letting us stay over, Nana-san."

Waving a hand dismissively, she replied with, "Oh, you don't need to be so formal! Just call me maman. Everybody does!"

Feeling himself blush a little, Gyuudon nodded, saying, "Maman..."

Nana smiled happily at this before turning back to the food. "If you're looking for Tsu-kun, he just went out to do some errands for me. Natsu-kun and Lambo also went with him."

"Oh..." said Gyuudon, feeling a little dejected.

Before he could say anything else, there was a loud bang as the front door was thrown open, and Lambo strolled into the house, shouting, "Lambo-sama is back!"

Then, Tsuna's voice could be heard scolding him, "Lambo! Be quiet, or you'll wake up Gyuudon!"

"But I want him to wake up!" shouted Lambo. "It's boring without him."

By now, they had all arrived at the doorway to the kitchen, and when they saw that he was awake, Lambo threw himself at Gyuudon with a cry of happiness.

Natsu poked his head out from behind Tsuna, and smiled up at Gyuudon shyly. The former lightning bull thought he saw a pair of fake cat ears almost hidden among the kid's messy orange locks but decided not to comment on that.

"Good morning, Gyuudon-kun, sorry we weren't there when you woke up," Tsuna told him, looking apologetic.

"Nandemonai..." he said quietly. Feeling a tug on the hem of his shirt, Gyuudon looked down to see Lambo holding a grape candy towards him. "For you," said the cow child, smiling happily.

This gesture really touched Gyuudon, especially since he knew just how important Lambi's grape candies were to him.

"Arigatou," he said shyly, taking the candy from him and popping it into his mouth.

The next of the day passed quickly by as Gyuudon, his master, and the other kids of the Sawada household spent it playing at the park and tiring out their babysitter (Tsuna) to the point of collapsing.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Gyuudon woke up to the feeling of a smaller body curling up against his own. Cracking an eye open, he saw Lambo curled up beside him, looking lonely.<p>

"Lambo?" he asked, getting the child's attention. "What's wrong?"

Trying to appear nonchalant, the cow child said, "Dame-Tsuna went to school, so the great Lambo-sama has nothing to do!"

Gyuudon wasn't sure if it was because the two of them were so close, or if the child was just that bad an actor, but he was able to easily see through Lambo's toughness act.

Sighing, he drew the cow-clad five-year-old close to him and said, "If you're that lonely, the why don't we go get Fuuta-kun and ask maman if she can take us to the park? And before you know it, Tsuna-nii will be back from school, ne?"

Lambo nodded his head meekly, and the two of them were headed downstairs when they heard a loud sob coming from the kitchen.

Rushing in to see what was wrong, Gyuudon saw Natsu sitting on the floor, crying his eyes out and Nana trying to find out what was wrong.

"What's wrong?" asked Gyuudon worriedly, and the brunette looked worriedly up at him.

"I don't know," she said. "He was fine until a while ago, but then he started crying, and won't stop. I'm worried he might have gotten hurt."

As Nana finished speaking, Natsu sniffled quietly, and said in a heartbroken voice, "I want to see Tsuna-nii..."

And so it was decided that the three children would venture out to Nami-chuu in search of their missin nii-san.

* * *

><p>SkyGem: It's been a while since I've updated, but I sure hope I didn't disappoint :P. Please do leave a review and tell me what y'all thought, ne? Arigatou gozaimasu!<p>

Chapter 6: Uri.


	6. Uri

Uri looked around curiously at the room he was in and completely ignored Giannini in favour of wondering why he wasn't in his ring form.

It didn't take the young boy too long to realize what was going on.

Having recognised Natsu right away and having noticed that the kid was about to start crying, Uri was about to rush over to where the little boy was, but stopped short when the door to the room was opened.

Uri watched quietly as the scene unfolded before him, and before he knew what was happening, his master was standing over him, looking at him emotionlessly.

Shooting a glare up at him, Uri hissed out, "What do you want?"

The younger male was surprised to see a small smile grace his master's face as he bent down and pulled Uri into his arms.

Letting out a small noise of surprise, Uri starfished himself around Hayato's torso, and he let out a chuckle.

"You can be pretty cute sometimes, you know?" said Hayato, gently running a hand through Uri's hair.

"D-don't call me cute!" growled the little boy into his master's shoulder. Despite his words, though, Uri only tightened his grip on Hayato, knowing that he was safe as long as he was in the older male's arms.

"I'm only telling the truth," replied Hayato as he followed the rest out of the room. "Now if only you could be this cute in your normal form, our relationship would be so much better, don't you agree?"

"I don't want a better relationship with you!" retorted Uri, laying his cheek against Hayato's shoulder.

"Tsk tsk tsk," said Hayato, and Uri could feel him shaking his head. "It's not good to lie, you little brat," he said in what sounded like a stern voice, though the word brat was said affectionately. "We have the same feelings, remember?"

Uri felt his face heat up, and he turned to bury his head into the hollow at the base of Hayato's neck. "Gomen," he said quietly.

"It's okay," replied Hayato just as quietly. "It was partly my fault too."

Uri smiled into his neck, but then the slight chill of the night air hit his skin and he immediately lifted his head, looking around.

Looking back at the door of the Sawada residence, he said, "Hayato! Why are we leaving? I want to stay behind and play with Natsu!"

"Sorry, bud," replied the silverette, "We can't impose on Juudaime any more than we already have."

"But I want to stay!" he whined, pounding his master's shoulder with tiny fists. "I want to play with Natsu!"

Letting out a small sigh, Hayato said, "You'll see him the day after tomorrow, okay? For now, I have to take you home; you need some sleep!"

"But I'm not sleepy!" he whined, fighting back the urge to yawn.

At this, Hayato smacked him lightly on the head. "I told you not to lie!"

Knowing that there was no way he was going to win, Uri huffed and lay his head back down. "I hate you," he said with a pout.

"I love you too," came the amused reply, and Uri rolled his eyes before slowly closing them, drifting off to sleep with a small smile on his face.

By the time Hayato opened the door to his apartment, the kid in his arms was already fast asleep, and the silverette found his eyelids dropping as well.

Quickly dressing the kid in a t-shirt that almost reached his knees and a pair of shorts that had shrunk in the wash a little while ago, Hayato put him in the bed (thankfully he hadn't woken up), and crawled in beside him.

The last thought the silverette's mind registered was the feeling of a smaller body snuggling up against his own, and then he was off to the land of dreams.

* * *

><p>The next morning, when Uri woke up, he was reluctant to open his eyes; the bed felt so comfortable and his pillow was so warm. The little boy was almost tempted to go back to sleep…<p>

The next second, though, Uri's eyes snapped open as he realized that his pillow was _too_ warm, and that it was **moving**!

Quickly jerking up, he looked around to see Hayato still fast asleep, his silver hair splayed out all over his pillow, and his body at a ninety degree angle to Uri's. Seconds later, Uri realized that the "pillow" his head had been resting on had been Hayato's stomach!

Jerking quickly to his feet, the boy tried to step over the silverette. This wasn't such a good idea, considering the facts that he still wasn't used to balancing on two feet instead of four, and his feet were tangled in the sheets. The end result was him tripping and landing on top of his master.

With a surprised grunt, Hayato quickly sat up, looking around in panic. "What happened?" he asked, still half asleep. "Are we being attacked?"

When his eyes were inevitably drawn to the smaller male lying across him, all sleep fled from his mind, and he started laughing as he realized what had happened.

"S-stop laughing!" shouted Uri from where he was, his face tinted pink from embarrassment.

"Gomen, ne?" said Hayato, not looking sorry at all as he helped Uri untangle his legs from the sheets and set him on the floor. "But be careful, you're not used to being human yet. It'll take a while for you to gain your balance."

"I know that!" hissed Uri, still a little embarrassed at the earlier. "So, when do we get to go over to Tsuna-nii's house?"

Hayato frowned a little at the honorific, but ignored it, instead answering with, "Tomorrow."

"What?" exclaimed Uri, looking mad. "But why not today?"

"Because today, I need to go restock my dynamite, and then we need to go training. And there's no way I'm leaving you at juudaime's house to impose on him; he already has too many children to look after."

With a small pout, Uri crossed his arms and said, "Fine!" Even though he didn't like it, he could understand where his master was coming from.

After having a quick breakfast, the rest of the day was spent on a trip to a place to pick up a whole crate of dynamite from some shady guy whom Uri disliked intensely, then going into the mountains to train.

Before the little boy knew it, they had arrived back home and he fell into bed in exhaustion, curling up close to his master.

* * *

><p>It was with a feeling of great excitement that Uri woke up the next day, and after shaking his master awake quickly, the two of them had another quick breakfast before dashing out of the house and towards Tsuna's house to pick him up for school.<p>

Uri was really excited to see Natsu and Tsuna-nii again (he looked up to them a great deal), and kept pestering Hayato to make sure that he really was going to get to spend the whole day with Natsu.

"I told you already!" shouted Hayato, finally getting fed up, "Yes, you're going to spend the whole day with Natsu! Now will you just shut it?"

"Fine!" hissed Uri, turning away with a pout on his face, but not letting go of his hand.

It was while he was being so quiet that he heard the whispers.

"_So young, and already his hair is dyed."_

"_Tsk tsk tsk, what were his parents thinking? Letting him do that to his hair?"_

"_It's the older brother, I'm sure. Look at him, there's no doubt he's a delinquent."_

"_And he was shouting at the boy before too."_

"_Oh, the poor child, someone should do something!"_

Uri shot a glare at the three women that were just standing around, gossiping as if they had nothing better to do with their time.

When they saw his glare, the whispering redoubled, and Uri let out a small huff, rolling his eyes.

Just then, he felt his master squeeze his hand and he looked up to see that the silverette's expression was absolutely furious.

Uri tugged lightly at his hand, and when Hayato looked down, he gestured for him to lean down.

Obeying, Hayato's expression was a bit curious as Uri stood up on his tippy-toes to whisper into his ears, "Don't listen to those old hags! They're just jealous that we can pull off these hairstyles!"

There was a moment of silence before Hayato burst out laughing, and Uri giggled along with him.

Shaking his head in exasperation, Hayato scooped the younger male up into his arms and rested him against his hip despite his complaints. "You're awesome, you know that?"

Uri smirked at this. "Of course," he said, "I'm a part of you, remember? If we weren't at least this awesome, we wouldn't qualify as Tsuna-nii's right hand!"

"Damn right we wouldn't!" agreed Hayato, ruffling his hair as they walked on.

It wasn't long before they came upon Tsuna, and Uri was disappointed to see that while Jirou and Kojiro were there, Natsu was nowhere to be seen.

"Tsuna-nii!" he shouted, running up to the older male and throwing his arms around him. "Where's Natsu-kun?"

"Oh, hey Uri-kun!" said Tsuna with a smile, returning the hug. "Natsu is staying home with Gyuudon-kun and Lambo."

"Eh?" asked Uri, "But I was looking forward to spending the day with him!"

Taking pity on him, Tsuna bent down and asked, "Then would you like to go over and spend the day at my house? I'm sure Natsu would be really happy to see you!"

"Really?" asked Uri enthusiastically. "I can go?"

"Ah! Then let us come too!" shouted Jirou and Kojiro in unison from where they had been hiding behind their master's pant legs until then. "We want to go play with Natsu too!"

"Are you sure you guys know your way their?" asked Yamamoto, looking worried, but his two kids waved their hands dismissively.

"Of course we do! If you know how to get there, then we know too!" said Kojiro.

"We'll be fine! Come on, Uri! Let's go!" shouted Jirou as he and his brother took off.

"Don't tell me what to do, little puppy!" shouted Uri, taking off after them as the three older kids looked on worriedly.

* * *

><p>SkyGem: Haha, it took me about two months, but hey, it's finally out! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Uri's just the cutest thing, ain't he? I wish he and Gokudera could get along better! Anyways, please do leave a review and tell me what you thought!<p>

Chapter 7: Kojiro and Jirou


	7. Kojiro and Jirou

Jirou squeezed Kojiro's hand reassuringly, smiling down at the boy as he said, "Don't worry. Takeshi-nii will definitely find us soon."

Kojiro nodded tearfully, and just as Jirou was starting to get worried, the door burst open and Reborn stepped into the room with their master and the rest of the Vongola guardians.

And before long, they were wearing clothes, Reborn had beaten up Giannini, and their master was coming up to them with a wide grin on his face. "You guys are mine, aren't you?" he asked.

The two kids nodded in affirmation, and he knelt down to ruffle their hair. "It must have been pretty scary to wake up like this. I'm proud of you guys for being so brave!"

Kojiro smiled a little before wrapping his arms around their master's torso, clutching tightly to his shirt.

Takeshi just patted his head and smiled reassuringly at Jirou before holding out an arm in invitation to the taller boy.

The boy who had once been a dog smiled and fell into the embrace, feeling safe.

It wasn't long before Jirou had to release the older male from his grip, and Takeshi stood up.

Looking between the two of them, the baseball player asked, "So, do you guys want to be carried, or to walk?"

"I want to walk!" said Jirou enthusiastically, immediately standing up. Kojiro, on the other hand, held his arms up to show that he wanted to be picked up.

Gathering the blue haired boy into his arms, Takeshi pulled him up before looking down at Jirou. "Are you sure you want to walk? I could give you a piggyback, you know."

Jirou, though, shook his and bounded happily out of the room ahead of them, almost stumbling a few times on the way.

Shaking his head with an exasperated smile on his face, Takeshi followed after him, telling him to be careful every once in a while.

By the time they arrived home, though, Jirou's mood had changed drastically. Now, he was hiding behind Takeshi's leg, his expression shy.

Smiling reassuringly, Takeshi just ruffled his hair once before reaching out and opening the door, then gently nudging the boy inside ahead of him.

"Tadaima!" he called.

"Okaeri!" was his father's reply from the living room where he was probably watching television.

At this new voice, Jirou immediately went to go hide behind his master, and Takeshi smiled in exasperation.

"Dad, we've got some guests," he told his father as he stood in the doorway with Jirou hiding behind his legs and Kojiro with his head buried in his shoulders.

Yamamoto Tsuyoshi turned around, fully expecting to see some of his son's friends. What he saw instead was his son with two shy little boys clinging tightly to him.

"Takeshi?" he said, looking for an explanation.

His son just smiled a little uncertainly before saying, "These guys have a complicated home situation, and they need somewhere to stay for a while, so I kind of offered to have them stay here for the night…"

Tsuyoshi just stared at his son for a moment, not quite knowing what to say, then looked at the small brunette peeking out from behind his legs and the other boy with his head hiding in his shoulder.

Takeshi started to get a bit worried when his father didn't say anything. His grip tightened protectively over Kojiro, and his other arm went protectively around Jirou's shoulder. A little hesitantly, he said, "If you don't want them here, I can try and find somewhere for them to stay, but-"

And immediately, Kojiro's head shot up for the first time since they'd come in.

"Iie!" he shouted at the same time as Jirou.

"We want to stay with Takeshi-nii!" shouted Jirou, looking up with pleading eyes.

"Yeah! Why can't we stay with Takeshi-nii?"

Tsuyoshi couldn't help the smile that came onto his face when he saw the attachment the two young boys had to his son. Takeshi was a great boy, but sometimes, he couldn't help but feel that he was still too childish. Maybe looking after these two could help teach him some responsibility.

"How long will they be staying?" he asked, and three heads turned to stare at him with shocked expressions.

Slowly, a grin spread across Takeshi's face and he said, "A week or two, probably; just until things get sorted out."

The man just nodded, getting up to walk closer to the two boys. Bending down to look the brunette in the eye, he smiled kindly and said, "Welcome to the Yamamoto household, little one. You can just call me uncle."

The brunette smiled brightly, apparently having gotten over his shyness, and hugged Tsuyoshi around the neck, saying, "It's nice to meet you, uncle! My name is Jirou, and that's my brother, Kojiro!"

Tsuyoshi was pleasantly surprised by this show of childish affection, and when Jirou let go, he looked up to see the younger one, Kojiro, looking at him.

For the first time, he was able to see the boy's face properly, and he saw that the boy didn't look much like his brother; his features were more petite, almost like a bird's, and his hair was black with a deep blue tint.

The boy, Kojiro, smiled shyly and waved at him.

Tsuyoshi returned the smile and the wave before saying, "Why don't you boys go upstairs and wash up? Dinner will be ready in about an hour."

* * *

><p>"No! Stop it!" squealed Kojiro through his laughter, trying to protect his face. "Jirou! Stop splashing me!"<p>

The other boy just kept splashing his brother with soapy bathwater, giggling all the while.

It didn't take long for Kojiro to reply in kind, and before long, the bathroom was a soapy, slippery warzone.

The two of them probably would have gone on with their battle for much longer if Takeshi hadn't taken that moment to intervene.

"Come on, you two, I need to wash your hair. Don't you want to eat?"

"But we want to keep playing!" said Kojiro, his shyness having mysteriously disappeared.

"Nu-uh, you can play later," said the older male, sitting him down on a stool and rubbing suds first into Kojiro's hair, then Jirou's.

"Now, close your eyes," he told them, and both boys screwed their eyes tightly closed, and it took all of Takeshi's willpower not to laugh at their expressions; it was utterly adorable.

Taking two buckets of warm water, he dumped them over the boys' heads, washing the shampoo out of their hair.

After a few seconds, the two let out simultaneous gasps for breath, their eyes flying open.

This time, Takeshi really couldn't help but laugh, and the two kids began glaring daggers at him. On their five-year-old faces, though, it was more like a pout, and only resulted in Takeshi laughing even more than before.

While the older male was laughing, Kojiro and Jirou exchanged mischievous glances before getting up and tackling the boy to the ground.

Takeshi immediately stopped laughing when he suddenly found himself pinned to the floor by two little bodies.

"G-guys?" he said questioningly, "please let me up?"

"No thank you," replied Kojiro, looking down at him from where he was perched on the boy's stomach.

"Anyways," said Jirou, "we need to wash master's hair too, don't we?"

* * *

><p>It was only twenty minutes later, after a long and dangerous war that included lots of giggling and splashing and tickling, that the three boys finally emerged from the bathroom, looking cleaner and decidedly less shy than when they had arrived at the Yamamoto residence.<p>

It was another battle altogether to get the two boys into some pairs of Takeshi's old pyjamas from when he was younger, and by the time the three of them went downstairs for dinner, they were all starving.

That weekend was one of the busiest Takeshi had had in a while. And so it made sense that when, on their way to school on Monday, the two boys decided to go with Uri and stay at Tsuna's house for the day, a small part of Takeshi (the part that wasn't worried) was a little relieved that he'd have a few hours of peace.

Too bad no one really counted on the possibility of the box animals' escape, or on their quest to go to Nami-chuu and reunite Natsu with his master.

The disaster that followed would surely have caused them all to be bitten to death by Hibari, if only his Roll wasn't in on it as well.

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><p>SkyGem: Haha, I take too long to update this, don't I? Well, I hope the fluffiness of this chapter makes up for it…Anyways, after this is two more chapters to go! And also a little present at the end as well! I hope you guys will enjoy it! Oh, and please do review and let me know what you thought! Ciao!<p>

Next chapter: Natsu


	8. Natsu

SkyGem: W00t! I've finally updated! I hope y'all aren't too disappointed, ne?

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><p>To say Natsu was scared would be an understatement.<p>

The little boy was absolutely terrified.

Not only had the boy just woken up in a form that was definitely not his own, but more importantly, his master was also nowhere in sight.

Just before he was about to start crying, though, the door to the room that he and the other box-animals-turned-human were in burst open, and in came Reborn and everyone's masters.

After a confusing few minutes during which Natsu suddenly found himself with clothes on, everything was finally still as everyone just stood around, staring at each other.

Natsu, not able to take it anymore, struggled to his feet and took a step towards his master, looking for reassurance.

Unfortunately, though, he wasn't used to walking on two feet, and stumbled.

Before he fell to the ground, though, his master rushed up to catch him in his arms, and Natsu took that chance to latch onto him, clinging to him as if he were a lifesaver, which he was.

"Are you okay, Natsu?" asked his master, his voice worried, and Natsu nodded, his face still buried in his master's clothes.

Natsu heard his master let out a sigh of relief before he let out a squeak as he felt his arms make their way around his waist as his master hoisted him up.

At that moment, Reborn called their attention, explained what had happened, and dismissed them all.

And before long, Natsu was downstairs, eating some of Nana's delicious food as Tsuna explained to Fuuta what had happened.

"Eh? So they're going to be staying with us?" asked Fuuta in a delighted voice. "Yay! It's been a bit lonely around here with just me and Lambo ever since I-Pin left for Italy last week! Natsu-kun and Gyuudon-kun can keep us company until she comes back!"

"That's right," replied Tsuna before he was distracted by Gyuudon and Lambo.

The rest of that night, and the day after were rather fun, and when Natsu had gone with his master to run some errands, he had seen some really cute kitty ears and had bugged his master until he'd bought them for him (which really hadn't taken that long).

Natsu went to sleep on his second night as a human thinking that it would be nice if he could just stay like that forever, spending all his days with his master and his master's guardians and their box animals.

That thought, however, was completely forgotten the next morning when Natsu woke up to see that his master was nowhere to be seen.

"T-Tsuna-nii?" he called out, hoping that maybe his Tsuna-nii was in the washroom or something.

When there was no answer, Natsu crawled out of his bed and went downstairs, stepping around Gyuudon and Lambo who were both still asleep.

When the little orange-haired boy got to the doorway of the kitchen, he peeked his head around, hoping that maybe Tsuna was there.

"Ara? Natsu-kun! You're awake!" exclaimed Nana the moment she saw the little child that was standing shyly by the entrance to the kitchen.

Waving the boy in, Nana said kindly, "Why don't you take a seat, ne? And I'll get you some breakfast!"

Natsu immediately obeyed, taking a seat in the same chair he'd sat in the night before, and asked, "W-where's Tsuna-nii?"

"Tsu-kun has to go to school today," replied Nana, giving Natsu a pat on the head. "You don't have to worry, though! We'll have lots of fun today, Natsu-kun, and Tsu-kun will be back before you know it!"

But this didn't seem to be good for a certain box animal.

Upon hearing that his dear master wasn't here, that he'd gone to school, Natsu's eyes widened, and tears began to fall down his chubby little cheeks.

Not even noticing that Gyuudon and Lambo had appeared in the doorway, Natsu wailed out loud, "I want to see Tsuna-nii!"

Nana tried for all of ten minutes to make the little kid stop crying, and when nothing she tried worked, she quickly looked around the kitchen, hoping to find something to help her.

And then, her eyes landed on the wrapped lunchbox on the kitchen counter.

Her eyes suddenly lighting up with an idea, Nana went over to the lunchbox and picked it up.

Bringing it back over to where Natsu was still crying, Nana placed it in front of him, successfully gaining his attention.

"Oh dear," said Nana in a mock worried voice. "It looks like Tsu-kun has forgotten his bento at home! I wish there was someone that could take it to him!"

Natsu stopped crying at this and immediately perked up.

Letting out a little sniff, he held out his hand and said, "C-can Natsu take the b-bento to Tsuna-nii?"

Cooing a little at his cuteness, Nana said in an overly grateful voice, "Oh, thank you _so much_ Natsu-kun! Honestly, you're such a big help!"

The small, watery grin on Natsu's face widened a bit at this, and he puffed out his chest proudly, even if he was feeling a little apprehensive about going all the way to his Tsuna-nii's school alone.

Before the lion cub could pursue this train of thought any further, though, Lambo butted in, saying, "Lambo-sama and Gyuudon want to go with you, Natsu-kun! We want to see Tsuna-nii's school too!"

Nodding enthusiastically at this, Natsu said, "Ikuzo!"

A wide grin on her face, Nana said to the boys, "Stay safe, alright?"

"Hai!" chorused the three kids, not even looking back as they raced out of the gat, heading towards the general direction of Tsuna's school, and Nana, still with the smile on her face, turned to walk back into the house, a bit of worry in her heart, but fully trusting that the three of them wouldn't get hurt.

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><p>Uri, Jirou, and Kojiro were only a few blocks from the Sawada household when it happened.<p>

The three of them had just rounded a corner when they all bumped into a group of three that were running in a direction opposite to theirs.

As he fell, Uri's head hit the pavement with a hard knock, and the boy had to fight the urge to cry, though he was the only one that did.

Just as the young boy sat up, he heard the sound of crying from all around him, and noticed that not only were Kojiro and Jirou crying, but so were the two of the three that had bumped into them.

And just who were these three?

Of course, it just had to be Natsu, Gyuudon, and Lambo.

Gyuudon was the only one that had not started crying, and Lambo was crying into his shirt.

Panicking, Uri quickly went up to Natsu and hugged the little boy, saying, "Gomen, Natsu-kun! Are you okay? Did you hit your head?"

Natsu just nodded wordlessly, pointing to a spot on his head where a lump had already started forming, and said, "Owwie."

A worried little frown on his head, Uri hugged the boy closer and patted the little bump lightly, saying, "Pain, pain, fly away!"

By the time Uri was finally able to get Natsu to stop crying, Gyuudon had done the same to the other three, although Kojiro was still sniffling a bit.

"Where are you guys going?" asked Gyuudon when he was finally able to take his attention off the other kids without them bursting out crying again.

"We were going to see you guys!" answered Uri. "Where are you guys going?"

Natsu clutched something in his arms tighter to his chest, and when Uri looked over, he noticed that the boy was holding a bento.

"I-It's for Tsuna-nii," he said in a quiet voice. "W-we were going to take it to him."

And with that, it was decided that Uri and the others would accompany Natsu to Nami-Chuu.

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><p>Roll was starting to get bored.<p>

The boy had been exploring the school by himself for the past hour, and he'd already seen everything interesting there was to see.

Doing this kind of stuff just wasn't fun if there was no one to do it with.

And that was why, when he passed by a classroom, and a very familiar haircut caught his eye, he was extremely excited.

Poking his head through the doorway, Roll tried to catch the attention of Kurou, who was sitting quietly beside Chrome-nee, his expression bored.

The boy's eyes were roaming everywhere, and finally, after about two whole minutes during which Roll was waving his arms like a windmill, and half the class's attention was on him, Roll's eyes alit on him, and he let out an excited little squeak.

Pulling on Chrome's arm to get his attention, Kurou immediately started whispering excitedly to him and pointing in Roll's direction.

Chrome took one look at Roll before supposedly giving Kurou permission to leave.

Jumping excitedly off his chair, Kurou ran towards Roll as fast as humanly possible and threw his arms around the boy.

A second later, though, he was pulling back with a small cry of pain and began sucking one of his fingers, asking, "Since when is your hair is pointy?"

"Pointy?" asked Roll, looking down at his hair, which, last time he checked, had been normal hair. Now, that normal hair had changed to resemble the quills that normally adorned his head.

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><p>SkyGem: Hehe, that's the end of this chapter! What did you all think? Like it? Hate it? Please do leave a review and let me know what you thought, and I'll try to update the last chapter whenever I can! Ciao!<p>

P.S. The real fun starts next chapter~

Next Chapter: Normal Again


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